This invention relates to building construction methods in general and, more particularly to a method of building construction which combines the use of prefabricated floor elements with cast in situ supports for the floor elements.
Existing industrialized construction systems ranging in application form low-rise to high-rise residential, parking, industrial, laboratory, school and office buildings use factory components which are assembled into buildings at the construction site. These cover a gamut of alternatives ranging from pre-fabrication of structural members such as frames, beams, floor and wall panels, to the manufacturing of completely pre-finished and pre-furnished modular components.
It is well known that economic efficiency through industrialization is based on long production runs of identical or highly similar manufactured elements. In building construction this is possible only when a large number of buildings in a given geographic area, within a given time frame require similar components.
Standardized mas-produced floor elements (prestressed concrete planks and steel bar joists) which can be easily incorporated into almost any design are presently available in virtually every part of this country. There are, however, inherent difficulties in the standardization of structural supports (walls, columns, frames). As a result, known building systems in the United States rarely achieve full economic benefits of industrialization.
Thus, in the present U.S. construction market which continues to be dominated by conventional or semi-conventional construction methods, short of modifying free market conditions, what is needed is a building method based on a middle course approach between conventional nonefficiencies and the rigid limitations of full industrialization.
It is accordingly a general object of the invention to provide an improved method of building construction.
It is a specific object of the invention to provide a method of building construction which employs prefabricated floor elements and cast in situ supports therefor.
It is a feature of the invention that the method of building construction provides economics in materials and labor.
It is still another feature of the invention that the invention thereof permits design flexibility with a wide degree of versatility in terms of building applications and local conditions.